


Yarn Over

by ziazippy5379



Category: Leverage
Genre: Crafts, Gen, The Team is also there, just not a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22856839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziazippy5379/pseuds/ziazippy5379
Summary: Alec Hardison crafts and has since he was a kid.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	Yarn Over

**Author's Note:**

> This is extremely self-indulgent and mostly just me making Hardison have the same hobby as me because I felt like it. I had fun which is all that matters.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Alec couldn't sit still. He knew he was supposed to be able to, but he couldn't. He could pretend at school to at least enough satisfy his teacher, but it meant that by the time he got home it was nearly impossible for him to remain still.

Nana understood this about Alec and didn’t try to make him remain still for at least a couple hours until he had to start his homework. And even then, he was allowed to get up between questions. Dinner was different and he was able to remain in his seat while he ate.

The real problem for Alec came after dinner on the not school nights, mostly Fridays. On those nights Nana would let all the kids stay up an extra hour to watch an episode of Star Trek. Alec loved those nights because from the first time he had seen the show he had fallen in love with it. It was all his third grade being wanted from life. There was so much science and technology and there were so many cool aliens. And it was in space!

But after school all week Alec just couldn’t sit still and watch the show. If he sat still his mind was somewhere else. And if he moved, he missed the show. It was making him very unhappy. He didn’t know what to do.

* * *

It was Friday again and it was time to watch the show. As was usual Alec couldn’t sit still. This time he just kept looking at everything that moved in the room around him. And he noticed something he hadn’t before, Nana was knitting. He knew she knit a lot since they all had winter gear made by her, but Alec had never noticed her doing it while they watched TV. He filed it away to ask about later.

* * *

“Why were you knitting last night while we watched Star Trek,” Alec asked as he helped Nana clean up after breakfast.

“My mind was being active. I needed a distraction so I could watch with all of you,” she answered.

Alec was astonished. Her knitting let her concentrate on the show. He didn’t know anything like that was possible. Maybe he needed something like that. Maybe knitting would work for him too.

“Will you teach me?” he asked.

“To knit?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, please.”

“Of course, Alec”

* * *

And so Nana taught him the beginnings that afternoon. It was hard at first, but he eventually got the hang of knit and purl stitches. And that night he knitted while they watched their episode.

It worked. He was able to pay a lot more attention to the show. The scarf Nana had started him on grew as well. It still wasn’t long but he could make something and actually watch Star Trek.

* * *

After his initial trials with knitting, there was never a time that Alec didn’t have at least one project going. All of Nana’s friends thought it was great that he was keeping the craft alive so they gave him lots of yarn that Alec wouldn’t have been able to get with his small allowance. He learned more crafts as well. But knitting and crochet had a special claim on him.

And as he got better some of the neighbors paid him to make things for them. In high school, he was able to save up enough money to get his first computer this way.

Eventually, Alec became Alec Hardison – the world’s greatest hacker. But that did not stop him from his crafts. He always kept a project with him and most he gave to charities (except the few that were for him).

Then Leverage happened.

* * *

With Leverage came a new family. And that family needed knitted things. Hardison made them all sorts of useful things like hats and scarves. But he never really worked on them in front of the crew. The time they spent together was almost always work-related and Hardison did not craft while working. So, he worked on his projects between jobs.

Then they moved to Boston and they spent much more time together. Even though they all had their own homes they all spent most of their time in the bar or Nate’s apartment. So, the team saw him work on projects for them. Only the projects for him.

* * *

The kid was crying. They were on a job and the client’s kid was sitting with Hardison and Sophie in Lucille and she was crying. Sophie was trying to calm the kid but after nearly getting shot the kid was inconsolable.

They had stopped the van out of the way to regroup and regain contact with the rest of the team. The coms had gone out and Hardison was trying to re-establish the connection. While he could work in all sorts of noisy places the sound of the little girl crying was making it hard. All his instincts were telling him to stop and comfort the child like he had with his foster siblings.

He had a plan for times like this. He knew eventually there would be a time that there was a child that was going to need comfort. So, he kept something in Lucille that he thought would work. Hardison reached into the box on the shelf and pulled out a small crocheted bear. He turned to the girl and held it out to her.

“I know I always feel better with a friend to hold onto. And this little one needs one now,” he said to her.

She looked from Hardison to the bear and back before she took the bear from him. The bear got a big hug from her and she began to calm down.

Hardison was able to get the coms back online and they took the guys who thought shooting a little girl down so hard they would never be a problem again.

* * *

“Do you just keep a box of stuffed animals in the van?” Eliot asked after Sophie had told the team about the incident with the girl.

“Yeah, I make so many sometimes and I never know when they might be useful,” he Hardison answered.

“Can I see?” Parker asked excitedly.

“Sure.”

He pulled the box down and opened it for Parker to look in. Her eyes immediately brightened, and she pulled out a pale green bunny. She looked at Hardison and at his nod hid the bunny away.

Her look of joy brought a smile to his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always welcome.
> 
> (you can find me on tumblr at theredshirtsarecoming)


End file.
